Ruta 40

Ruta 40 in Argentina goes all the way from the Bolivian border in the North, stretching some 5000kms South all the way to Rio Gallegas and the Chillean border. It's one of the longest highways in the world and passes through some extremely diverse landscapes.

We joined Ruta 40 pretty much right after entering Argentina and followed it some 1600kms all the way down to the Chillean border near Puerto Natales. From the pristine lakes, mountains and pine forests of the Argentinian Lakes District, through the barren scrublands and deserts of the Patagonian Steppe, all the way through to the snow capped mountains and vast glaciers of the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap.

Sometimes the road is smooth tarmac, sometimes it's riddled with pot holes and falling apart, sometimes it's nothing more than a gravel track. There's not much traffic, but plenty of wildlife along the way with lots of guanacos (Patagonian llamas), foxes, wild geese and flamingos. We even saw a few armadillos! (we actually came really close to running one over but luckily managed to swerve out of the way).